Kaleidoscope Summer (Samantha's Story) (30 page)

L
ilyan
and
the
price
of her
choices pained
my heart.
Logan m
ust have felt
the fallout, too
—even worse
.
He and Maggie had both known Lilyan for many years.

Logan would be stopping by later—I was sure of it
. I grabbed my keys and rushed out the door.
A few miles past the cottages
,
I swung into the
parking
lot
of
Farmer
’s Market
.

I grabbed a cart and
hurriedly
collected
ingredients
for the one dish I excelled a
t—s
teak picado.
After college
,
I
had
moved into my own place and atte
nded
cooking classes
. I couldn’t cook
like Abby or bake
like Julia, but I could
combine a few ingredients
and com
e up with a decent
meal.

The sun hung low on the drive
home
. Not fond of dark
all
e
ys
I
rushed
to make it there
before nigh
tfall
.

Like a madwoman, I emptied the bags
on the kitchen co
unter. Then I c
ut the steak in two-inch narrow strips
. Browned the strips in a small amount of
oil and added onions, bell peppers
,
an
d green chil
i
es. Next
,
I
cut two lar
ge tomatoes into six wedges, and added the sections
to the meat and vegetables. I threw in salt
,
pepper
,
and a dash
of cumin. Set it to simmer for an
hour—
enough time to make myself presentable
.

I sent
Logan
a text, and while I waited for his reply, I
showered.
Wrapped in a towel
,
I
checked the phone—h
e hadn’t responded
.
Unusual.

I padded down the hallway and
into the kitchen. L
ifted the metal-rimmed glass cover
and gentl
y moved the contents around.
My phone remained unlit—
I
checked
it
anyway—nothing
.
T
he
day
had
leveled in a
t twenty on t
he Richter scale, and
h
e wa
s entitled
to recoup
in his own way
.
“Well
,
baby, guess it
’s you and me.” I rubbed the so
ft pla
ce behind Goldie’s
ears.

With one leg
tucked
u
nder me, I
settled on the sofa wi
th my food
.
I caught Goldie’s
motion out of the corner of my eye
.
I p
laced
my plate on the end table
and follow
ed her
. I peeked through the
new installed
fisheye lens and opened the door.
A clever
quip eluded me. “Logan
.”

He looked drained of energy
.
“Can’t stay long.”

“Let’s start with food.
”
His
downturned
expression answere
d me
.

“
I’m good.
”
He
meandered
over
and peered out the window
.

I
settle
d
on the floor next to Goldie. “
Lilyan
’s death—i
t’s hard to make sense out of
it
.”
There.
I pitched the to
pic
right into the middle of the room.

He turned toward me.
“Del
usional is one thing—but suicidal
?
I should go
.
I’m not good company right now.”

“Stay
.”

He leaned on
the
mantel
. “
I missed
the warning sig
ns
and now
Lilyan
’
s dead.
What if she had shot you or Goldie
? She
tried.”

“
Being a terrific police chief doesn’t qualify you as
a medical professional.”

“
I intended to consult a psychiatrist about Lilyan
. I never
bothered.”

I pushed up off the floor and st
ood next to him. “This happened in the
hospital
,
under a
doctor’s care
.
The blame lies with the ravages of
Lilyan
’s illness
—it
wasn’t anyone
’
s
fault.
”
I slipped into his arms
.
“
S
he must have been in a great deal of emotional pain.”
I pulled back so I could see his lips.

“It’s difficult to
comprehend mental illness
. While
training
,
I s
aw suicide
scenes. O
ther than learning
my job
,
I never probed
any deeper.”

“I haven’t known you to be uncaring.”

“You haven’t been out in the field with me. I don’t consider myself a bad-boy type—but I do my job.”

“Well, I
’m
glad I know the other side of you. H
ow about a walk along the shore?
”

“Rain
check? I have stuff to do.
” His
hand on the doorknob
,
he turned back. “Thanks for letting me spill my guts.”

My
heart felt heavy
. As
much as I had wanted to
ease his pain—I couldn’t find the words. If we were meant to be together, shouldn’t I have?
I pi
cked up my plate and shuffled the
food around—my appetite gone.

Chapter
Twenty-two

I had noticed
Sam’s
hurt
and maybe eve
n confusion at my abruptness. I drove s
traight to
the A
thletic Club, where
I pumped iron, as sweat slithered
down my back. I pushed
my muscles to a new endurance
until t
he
tightened
tension in
my gut
loo
sened
.

“
Closing in five
,
”
Isaac, the manager, called out over
the gym’s speaker system.
I
wiped down with the
towel from my around
my
neck.
After a
rigorous
workout,
a good n
ight
’
s sleep would burn off the residual impact of the day.

S
leep didn’t come easily. It was two in the morning when I had my last conscious thought. Morning felt like it arrived ahead of schedule.
R
eluctantly
,
I
dragged myself
to the shower, a
nd
emerged prepared
to
tackle life again
. I had regained cerebral
equilibri
um—or some fact-simile
.
I pulled on
jeans and
sl
ipped a T-shirt over my head
,
struggling
my arms into
it
as I
went in
search of food.

Alec
sat at
my kitchen table
,
woofing
down breakfast.
A whiff
of bacon upgraded my hunger to emergency le
vel
s
.
“What’
re you doing here?”

“Dorthea let me in. It’s this whole nigh
tmare with
Lilyan
.” He gulped
his
java.

“Like Sam
antha
said
,
Lilyan
must’
ve been in
horrendous
pain.
”

“Peggy and I sat up late into the night talking.
Having
someone special to talk
to
calms the waters
. I’m gla
d you have Sam
antha
.”

“W
e haven’t found what you and your wife
have
.
”

“Peggy and I have been married twenty years. Twenty-one in Aug
ust.” He jutted his chin up. He had reason to feel proud.

“Well
,
I’m
not
ready for that kind
of commitment.
”

“
Who are you trying to bulldoz
e? You we
re
bitten at first sight. And she’
s
still here
. Don’t throw in the towel until you’re down for the count.
Dorthea make you
breakfast
every morning
? T
his is great.”
Alec
fished
crumbs
off
his plate.

“
Depends on my hours
.
”
I
forked a
mouth
ful
as
c
himes resounded
through the ho
use. With a
slug
of coffee
to wash the food down,
I
answered
t
he door.
T
here she stood
,
looking like an angel in the early morning light. M
y pulse hiccupped
.
“Hey, lady.”

She
shyly glanced at her feet
. “
You look better this morning
.
I’m glad. You’ve had my back over the past few weeks
,
and I wanted to see for myself if there was anything you needed. I didn’t mean to intrude.
”
She turned to leave
.

I tou
ched her arm and waited for her to face me
.
“
Come on in—
Alec
’s here.”

She shook her head and a
str
ay tear glistened on
her cheek
.
“
I said what I came to say
.
”
She took a st
ep and
twisted back
ar
ound as if she had intended to add
something else, but
instead
climbed in
to the
SUV with Goldie in the passenger seat.
I planted my feet until she
dro
ve away.
How soon before
I
watch her leave
permanently?
I buried the thought.

Alec
came up behind me. “N
eed to
run
. See you at the station
?”

“
A
nything
on Roger Monroe?”